Because of this, I was looking forward to the new game, while being a bit worried as to whether the new formula would work or not. While there's a different feel to the game, and an entirely new objective, it's still great. The Sonic characters and style have been used to make something which will appeal to all fans of the series, as well as a few people who couldn't be bothered with running right all the time. The graphics are fantastic, and it's pretty remarkable to think that a Mega Drive is producing the rendered intro and super-smooth game movement. The chequered floor gets a bit repetitive after a few levels, but is necessary to be able to judge some tricky sections correctly. It's harder than most Sonic games, and will take longer to complete, though there aren't as many secret sections to discover, cutting down on the replay a bit. But still, it's excellent fun, it looks and sounds brilliant, it's fast, and it's Sonic! The first essential Mega Drive game in years.

The Genesis and Saturn versions are essentially the same: Rescue birds called flickies, collect golden rings, and bring down Dr. Robotnik. Problem is, while 3D Blast is super by 16-bit standards, it falls flat on Saturn, where 32-bit games with far more sophisticated 3-D graphics and gameplay are the norm.

The bottom line with Sonic 3D Blast is iffy. I can't really say that it's a bad game or a good game; I can't really decide on a score. Let me sum it up like this: it's probably worth having if only to say you've got all the Sonic games for the Genesis. It won't be your favorite, but it'll be addicting for a while and even after the first rush wears off you'll still come back to play it every once in a while. By all means you could do worse, but there are probably better choices out there for you. Just go pick it up and decide for yourself whether it's worthy of being the final game in a legendary series for a legendary platform.

Unlike the original Sonic titles, you must move slowly and deliberately to avoid obstacles. Another problem is that the control, although responsive, requires you to jump directly on the robots, leaving little room for error. Since control is a bit slippery in the first place, it can be frustrating as you hop around frantically trying to land on something. Another problem is the fact that the levels are connected, and you can accidentally fall back into an old level. This needlessly wastes time as you need to find your way back. There is no save feature, and it takes a good amount of playing time to make it to the later levels. Finally, in order to break down certain barriers, Sonic needs to utilize a new spin move that makes him look like a ballerina - not cool!! All in all, it's a nice-looking but forgettable game.